ORONO, Maine — Members of the University of Maine wrestling club were scattered around the country this week, some at home or enjoying spring break in warmer locales while others were stranded in Texas waiting for Mother Nature to accommodate their flight schedules.
Whenever they all finally meet again, they’ll be able to to continue a celebration reserved for national champions.
The fourth-year UMaine wrestling club, led by Brent Waterman of Belmont and River Robertson of Bucksport, captured the National Collegiate Wrestling Association Division II title during that organization’s 20th annual championship meet last weekend in Allen, Texas.
Waterman became the first men’s wrestler from UMaine to win an individual national collegiate title and Robertson earned All-America status with a third-place finish in his weight class as the team scored 67 points to best runner-up University of Connecticut (57 points) among 71 participating schools in that division.
Penn State (54), Akron (51) and James Madison (49.5) rounded out the top five.
“Honestly coming into the tournament I didn’t feel we had a good chance to win the title this year,” said Don McCann, who shares volunteer coaching duties for the UMaine team with Aaron James, Bill Osmer and Caleb Pelletier.
“But our wrestlers wrestled great and some of the teams that were chasing us were knocking each other off or losing close matches. It was a perfect storm that allowed it to happen this year.”
Waterman captured his individual national championship by sweeping five matches in the 141-pound weight class. The three-time state champion and 2012 New England champion from Belfast Area High School spent two years on the wrestling team at Virginia Tech before transferring to UMaine.
“He’s one of, if not the hardest, worker in the wrestling room and his technique is second to none,” said McCann. “I’ve never personally coached a better technician than Brent.”
Waterman’s toughest match came in the quarterfinals with a 6-5 decision over Jeff Hayden of Towson University. After advancing through the semifinals via default, Waterman captured the title with a 13-3 major decision over Zach Vatalare of the University of Michigan.
“Brent dominated the match, and he might have been a little frustrated that he didn’t get the pin,” said McCann. “The opposing wrestler knew pretty early on that he was going to get beat and he kind of covered up and stalled a little so he could get the seven minutes over and get off the mat.
“Brent just doesn’t make mistakes. He knows exactly what he wants to do, he has a great game plan and he just executes it.”
Robertson, a 2010 Class C state champion at 171 pounds for Bucksport High School, earned NCWA All-America honors for the third straight year by finishing third at 184 pounds.
Robertson won four straight matches before dropping a 2-1 semifinal decision to George VanValen of Alfred State. He then won both of his consolation-round matches, including a 6-0 decision over Taylor Westlake of Liberty University in the third-place match.
“River exceeded anything we could have hoped for,” said McCann, who also coached Robertson at Bucksport. “He wrestled probably the smartest tournament I’ve ever seen him wrestle. He didn’t make any mistakes, he kept his head and wrestled pretty much as perfectly as it’s possible for him to wrestle.”
Waterman and Robertson were two of seven UMaine men to qualify for the NCWA nationals through top-five finishes at the Northeast Conference championships held at the University of New Hampshire.
Tyler Everett (149 pounds) and Zachary Ragot (235) of Cutler and Washington Academy of East Machias also won matches at the nationals in contributing to UMaine’s victory, while Mark Hoyt (125), John Clark (149) and Chris Fraser (157) also represented the Black Bears.
“To be honest we were looking toward next year as the year when we thought we’d have all our top wrestlers in line,” said McCann. “It was really a nice surprise to have everything turn out the way it did this year.”
The UMaine club is one of more than 150 wrestling programs that compete in the NCWA, which was formed in 1997 in large part to accommodate former NCAA teams that were cut due to Title IX gender-equity issues or budget considerations.
UMaine sponsored an NCAA Division I wrestling program from 1969 until it was discontinued in 1988. Lack of an in-season conference affiliation and the difficulty of obtaining home meets were cited as major problems, according to, “The Maine Book: University of Maine Athletics 1881-2007.”
“One of the great things with the NCWA is that they offer wrestling opportunities for both men and women so we’re able to fulfill those Title IX issues,” said McCann, whose teams also had two women qualify for this years nationals, including Windham’s Samantha Frank, who won her third straight national title.
“A lot of schools look at the NCWA as the best option for their wrestling programs,” he added.
The NCWA teams are separated into Division I and Division II competitions for scoring purposes at the nationals. Division I teams typically are athletic-department funded and some provide scholarships. Division II teams such as UMaine are largely self-funded and don’t offer scholarships.
McCann said the UMaine wrestling club’s budget ranges from $15,000 to $20,000 per year, with travel a primary expense.
“Nobody wants to come to Orono, Maine, to wrestle, especially in the winter,” he said.
The team typically receives some financial support from UMaine Student Government and also raises funds through such activities as refereeing and otherwise assisting local youth programs, staging a summer wrestling camp and selling sponsorships for a team T-shirt.
“It’s really just a great opportunity to give college-age wrestlers a chance to compete on the national level,” said McCann. “It’s been a really good thing for us.”
